REPARIS WORKSHOPS ON ACCOUNTING AND AUDIT REGULATION

1. REPARIS WORKSHOPS ON ACCOUNTING AND AUDIT REGULATION Professional Accountancy Education: The Role of the Professional Body Masum TURKER Former Minister of Economy, Istanbul Commerce University, Turkey 14 March 2006, Vienna

2. 1. INTRODUCTION The aim of the professional accountancy education is to make the accountants gain knowledge and practical experience that ensure them to cope with the issues. For this reason, it is important to develop an organization that provide knowledge and experience to practitioners as well as the academic knowledge and accumulation, in professional accountancy education

3. 1. INTRODUCTION Without any doubt, there is a strict relation between high quality profession and the high quality professional accountancy education.. The FUTURE IMAGE of the profession is depends on improvement in the education quality. While the quality in education determining the professional quality, it should also determine the quality of its system in practice.

4. 1. INTRODUCTION According to a research on the prequalification accountancy training, almost 33 percent of the professional accountants claims that the academics should have very close relations with the market and ensure the overlapping the theory and practice. In other words, accountancy education must be supported by the practitioners and serve for the production.

5. 1. INTRODUCTION There is a continuing development and change in professional accountancy, accounting standards and auditing standards which determine the professional accountancy technique. For this reason, we have been looking for an answer to this issue for last 20 years: “How would be the accountancy profession in the future and according to this how will be an education process?”

6. 1. INTRODUCTION The key issue is the training of the professional members. For this reason, the main objective of the professional bodies is to improve the training processes and to form a internal training for the professionals.

7. 1. INTRODUCTION • Professional accountancy now becomes a global qualification. Thus the professional bodies have to concentrate on the training activities to create a global accountancy profession. • In order to achieve this objective, the main guides for the professional bodies are the IFAC’s International Education Standards (IESs) and the International Education Guides (IEGs). In this issue the professional bodies has the main mission and the responsibility.

8. 1. INTRODUCTION So, the professional bodies should carry out the following regulations consistent with the IFAC’s International Education Standards which’s last one the 7th IES is in effective and the 8th IES related to the competence requirements for the audit professionals: • Entery requirements for the Accountancy Profession • Capabilities and Competence • Continuing Professional Development IFAC’s International Education Standards authorize and hold responsible the professional bodies for both the implementation of those standards and high quality education concept.

9. 1. INTRODUCTION The professional bodies, responsible for the establishment of the training organizations, liable to make below training stages: • Practical experience training • Theoretical training • Training on latest development and implementation • Training on Information Technologies (IT)

10. 1. INTRODUCTION We believe in that using the distance learning will be crucial importance in the training programs for the mass and geographically diverse population. At the end of the presentation you will find the distance learning model in Turkey.

11. 2. PROFESSIONAL ACCOUNTANCY EDUCATION IN COUNTRIES 2.1 Professional Accountancy Education in France The French Accountancy Profession is involved in each stage of the Accountancy Education: • Prequalification Education • Practical Experience • Continual Professional Development (CPD)

12. 2. PROFESSIONAL ACCOUNTANCY EDUCATION IN COUNTRIES The Common Content Project • In 2002, 8 European Accountancy Bodies launched a joint project to bring their professional qualification closer together by 2007-2008. • Common Content for professional accountancy qualifications aims to unify as far as possible the qualification for membership; maximize the common elements of the qualifications; retain nations elements unique to each country and promote the free movement of professionals across national borders. • The consultation period on the proposals at the level of each of the 8 participating bodies was made in 2005. Final approval of the Common Content materials and learning outcomes will be given in 2006. National implementation will be realized in the following two years. • A Joint Oversight Board is to be created to decide whether each Institute has properly implemented and assessed the Common Content.

13. 2. PROFESSIONAL ACCOUNTANCY EDUCATION IN COUNTRIES 2.2 Professional Accountancy Education in Spain There are to main categories of education of auditors: • Access to the profession • Continuous Professional Education

14. 2. PROFESSIONAL ACCOUNTANCY EDUCATION IN COUNTRIES 2.2 Professional Accountancy Education in Spain There are 5 categories of Continuous Professional Education (CPE) • Audit Minimum. 40% of the total hours per year • Accounting. 25% minimum • Valuation 10% maximum • Tax 10% maximum • Company Law 20% maximum • Others. Maximum 10% of the total

15. 2. PROFESSIONAL ACCOUNTANCY EDUCATION IN COUNTRIES 2.3 Professional Accountancy Education in Bulgaria Annually ICPA the institute of the auditors in Bulgaria organizes practical classes for accountants and those one who prepare financial reports. These classes contain the following aspects: • Practical application of IAS and IFRS; • Practical appliance of the national accounting standards in force as of January, 1st, 2005 for the small and medium enterprises in Bulgaria; • Accounting frauds and possibilities for detection; • Financial planning and control; • Problems concerning the accountancy organization.

16. 2. PROFESSIONAL ACCOUNTANCY EDUCATION IN COUNTRIES 2.4 Professional Accountancy Education in Turkey Union of Chambers of Certified Public Accountants of Turkey, TURMOB is the umbrella of the 70 Chambers of CPAs and 8 Chambers of Sworn-in CPAs in 81 provinces. TURMOB has approximately 70.000 members.

17. 2. PROFESSIONAL ACCOUNTANCY EDUCATION IN COUNTRIES 2.4 Professional Accountancy Education in Turkey There are to main categories of education of professional accountants in Turkey: • Education of trainee professional accountants • Continuing professional education

18. 2. PROFESSIONAL ACCOUNTANCY EDUCATION IN COUNTRIES 2.4 Professional Accountancy Education in Turkey Professional education is organized byTESMER which is the education and training branch of TURMOB (Union of Chambers of Certified Public Accountants of Turkey). The professional body usually benefit from academicians and professional members.

19. 2. PROFESSIONAL ACCOUNTANCY EDUCATION IN COUNTRIES 2.4 Professional Accountancy Education in Turkey Education of the Trainees In order to become a professional accountant, one must be accepted as a trainee. Programs applicable to the trainees: • Basic training • Training during the practical training period • Training for the professional accountancy proficiency test These trainings cover the period form the beginning of the practical training to success to the professional accountancy proficiency test. Courses for trainees are carried out by the means as distance learning, CD’s and formal training

20. 2. PROFESSIONAL ACCOUNTANCY EDUCATION IN COUNTRIES 2.4 Professional Accountancy Education in Turkey Continuing Professional Education(CPE) Following programs are covered by CPE: • Review courses • Harmonization courses • IFRS courses • IAS courses • Courses for the Information Technologies Means of CPE are as courses, seminars, panels, conferences and congress.

21. 2. PROFESSIONAL ACCOUNTANCY EDUCATION IN COUNTRIES 2.4 Professional Accountancy Education in Turkey • According to the current TURMOB’s “CPE Regulation”, the professional accountants have to meet the at least 30 hours CPE requirement per year. In every 3 years a professional accountant has to complete at least 90 hours CPE. • The current CPE regulation in Turkey will be amended according to the IFAC’s IES-7 Continuing Professional Development: A Program of Lifelong Learning and Continuing Development of Professional Competence

22. 3. DISTANCE LEARNING MODEL IN TURKEY • According to the professional decision taken by TURMOB, there is a professional lifelong educationrelated professional environment. The studies and the experiences have showed that if the distance learning is selected for the continuing education, it would be easy to achieve the aim of the training.

23. 3. DISTANCE LEARNING MODEL IN TURKEY • TÜRMOB has planned to adapt the continuing professional education for the professional members gradually.

24. 3. DISTANCE LEARNING MODEL IN TURKEY • The first stage is the practical experience stage of the trainees who will become professional accountants in the future. At this stage, the “Interactive Training Sets” prepared for the CPA Proficiency Exam and for the Trainee Entrance Exam. This training sets in the forms that multimedia, allowing students to control their learning process, asynchronous knowledge transfer. “Interactive Training Sets for the CPA Proficiency Exam” are designed to provide best way for the candidate accountant who have completed the practical experience requirement and preparing for the CPA proficiency exam and the equal opportunity in this field. It contains 22 CDs including 7 subjects which are the subjects of the CPA Proficiency Exam. The subjects are Financial Accounting, Financial Statement Analysis, Cost Accounting, Accounts Audit, Tax Legislation and the Implementation, Law and Professional Accountancy Law. Content of the each subject is prepared by the leading academicians and the professional members. CDs’ interfaces are designed as simple and understandable and sets are aimed to be user friendly. In the training set, content of the subjects are combined by 40 hours video. The set also contains tables and animations are used in the presentations of the subjects as well as the self-reviewing minor tests and the glossary for the key terms. This set is also supported by the internet. For this purpose a training website was designed. In the website, candidate professional accountant using the training set can register for the classes on the website, access the updates and forward their questions related to the subjects to the teachers.

25. 3. DISTANCE LEARNING MODEL IN TURKEY • The second interactive training set is the “Interactive Training Sets for the Trainee Entrance Exam”. In this set there are 3 stages, including different contents, depending on the graduate level of the candidate professional like high school graduate, college graduate and bachelor’s degree. This set includes 3 CDs covering basic texts, pretests and general assessment test on 15 subjects. CDs’ interfaces are designed as simple and understandable for users. Thus the candidate can use the program without using keyboard. This set is also supported by the internet. The texts and the test on the CDs can be updated via internet.

26. 3. DISTANCE LEARNING MODEL IN TURKEY • “Training Set for the Trainees” is a project that also supported by the internet. Trainees can follow the updates on the CDs trough internet. The technologies used in this project also allow the TESMER monitor the student trough the CDs send to them. This process is not secret and within the information of the trainees. In order to get next level on the CDs one have to success the test at the end of the previous CD which covers all the subjects on the current CD.

27. 3. DISTANCE LEARNING MODEL IN TURKEY • To achieve the expected performance from the distance learning training projects, a help desk has established within the TESMER. The help desk is actively in charge of answering the points raised in continuing training process and responds the questions as quickly as possible. The help desk is serving as a call center over the phone and internet. The requests for help raised in office hours are responded immediately and others are answered in the next office day. Having completed the current works, smart classes will be developed.

28. Professional Accountancy Education:The Role of the Professional Body THANK YOU